silver spoon
silver spoons
When a person is described as "born with a silver spoon in his mouth," it means that his family is very wealthy, and he is likely to lead a privileged life.
If you picture a baby eating mashed bananas from a tiny spoon, this saying will make sense to you. If the baby's family is rich, that baby spoon might very well be made of silver — in a way it represents the luxury and ease of the rest of the baby's life, especially compared to those who were fed from regular plastic spoons. The phrase seems to be American in origin, and it was first used around 1800.
Definitions of silver spoon
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the inherited wealth of established upper-class families“he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth”
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synonyms:
old money
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type of:
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inherited wealth
wealth that is inherited rather than earned
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inherited wealth
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘silver spoon'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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